Case Hydrocyanicum acidum 6

de Deborah Collins

Sixth case of Hydrocyanicum acidum
Case 6 concerns a baby boy, one and a half years old when I saw him for the first time. At his birth he had not breathed. He had been white, and had bluish lips. His parents said “he looked dead”. He had problems drinking, as anything touching his lips seemed to send him into a spasm. He cried continually and only wanted to be carried while one of his parents walked with him. (Both of his parents suffered from severe lack of sleep: they took turns giving up their nights. Father did very well on Cocculus, and mother on Ferrum Muriaticum). He made no eye contact for the first half year, nor did he look toward objects or lights near him. If he was not well he would go into a ‘trance’, staring into the distance. He was easily frightened, especially in any new environment. He had extremely high muscular tonus, stretching backwards in a continual cramp. His head was turned in a cramp to the left. His hands were cramped into fists, and he seemed to have no control over them. He had very dry, cold skin and very cold feet. He hasd breathing problems, being either wheezy and tight, or apnoe. His lungs seemed to be full of mucous, and his breath rattling, but he never had pneumonia. His abdomen was tight, with cramps in his belly, diarrhea and flatus. Sometimes he had problems defecating, as his anus would cramp up, and stools had to be removed manually. (Breast)-feeding had become a source of stress, as he cramped up at any touch to his mouth. He had problems swallowing, and was fed through a tube. He had had oesopahagus bleeding, vomiting blood, and bleeding from his stomach once, as well as blood in his stools. He was prone to high temperatures with no apparent infection. Dentition worsened all his complaints, and he ground his teeth.

Everything seemed to be centered around “cramp” in his case, and I gave him Cuprum C200. Although this seemed to provide some relief, he needed it more and more often. Belladonna and Oxygenium gave no relief. I thought of Laurocerasus (blue babies and cramp), which contains cyanide, but finally gave Hydrocyanic Acid C30. His mother reported: “He is much happier, more relaxed, and less panicky. He looks at us more, and smiles happily when he sees us. He seems to notice everything. He is is stretching backward less. He is not choking anymore, and his lungs are clearer. His hands and feet warmed up straight away. His skin, which was dry and cold and full of red pimples, cleared up straight away.”

Due to my move I was only able to treat him for 6 months, during which time he continued to improve: the cramping became less frequent and less severe.